Firing Line
by Storybookgirl77
Summary: Prequel to Rescue and Recovery. Aberystwyth is in the grip of a spate of murders. Tom and Mared are closer than ever but events conspire to rip them apart. Will the killer strike again? Will Siân and Lloyd be able to help and how far does the conspiracy a
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer I don't own Hinterland / Y Gwyll. BBC Wales and S4C own all. No copyright infringement is intended nor should be inferred. Please review.

1.

Tom loosened his tie as he stared at the board Lloyd had spent so long putting together. He hated that there had been two murders and they were still no closer to finding the killer than they had been when the first victim had been found.

"Morning." He smiled as he heard Mared arrive. She shrugged her coat off as he turned to face her. She smiled slightly as he looked at her. His lips twitched into a half smile as he remembered the previous night in the caravan. Their new relationship was still a secret; Mared determined not to have his authority as their DCI undermined if the others found out about them.

"Hi."

"Sorry I'm late. Had to drop Elin at school. It's her GCSE maths today. Didn't want her being late." She explained as Lloyd and Siân walked in.

"Yuca fi maths." Siân pulled a face. "Kid has my sympathy."

"She's good at maths. I know what you mean though. Doesn't get it from me." Mared smiled. "My brother probably."

"Hope she's ok." Lloyd wiped his glasses as Tom pulled a face.

"Hello? Two dead women." He nodded towards the board. "Wendy Shepherd and Bethan Lloyd."

"Wendy." Mared stared at the picture of the dark haired woman smiling back at her. "Aged 38. Single. Never married, no children. Worked in the medical centre. Found dead last week." She sighed.

"Bethan Jane Lloyd, 42." Tom continued. "Again single, good job, no kids. Researcher at the university. Found dead in the lanes behind me he shops in town last night."

"Cause of death?" Siân asked. "Are they the same?"

"Waiting for Rhodri to get back to us on that but yeah, it looks like it." He ran a hand over his face. "He's running a tox screen too. Until then we can assume that both were killed by the same person." Tom stated firmly.

"Bodies were in the same condition when they were found." Mared spoke calmly. "Similar age and appearance and had good jobs."

"Yeah, maybe he had a type?" Lloyd shrugged. Tom nodded.

"Right- overtime has been sanctioned so I'm guessing you all want it? Prosser is on the warpath over this and honestly, I can see why."

"Sir." Siân and Lloyd glanced at each other. Mared sighed.

"Elin's ski trip won't pay for itself." She sighed as Tom smiled slightly. He knew she wanted her teenage daughter to have everything she hadn't. She'd been a mum at the age Elin was now. She wanted her daughter's to have the opportunity she had never had. He told Siân and Lloyd to talk to the victims' families, waiting until they had left before catching Mared's hand.

"Tom?"

"Be careful,"

"Excuse me?" She smiled slightly. He held her gaze.

"We don't know who is doing this. We do know that they are seriously twisted. Sick. And they have a type. Professional, intelligent women. Similar age to you and beautiful." She blushed as he held her hand. "Please, just humour me. Ok?"

"Tom." She held his gaze.

"I've lost everything good in my life, Mared Rhys. I can't lose you too." His voice was low, almost intimate as she squeezed his hand.

"I'll be careful." She held his gaze. "For you. And Elin. Ok?" He dipped his head, nodding as she pulled back blushing. Tom frowned for a second, realising Prosser had walked into the office. Mared straightened up, picking up her jacket she headed past the older man.

"Sir?" Tom shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Any closer?" Prosser asked. Mared looked away. Tom shrugged.

"We're getting there." Tom answered before grabbing his car keys and ushering Mared out of the office.

Xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

Close?

Tom drove towards the mortuary, aware that Mared was worried that Prosser had walked in on them just at the moment he'd been holding her hand. He knew she guarded her privacy, defensive when anyone apart from those closest to her questioned her. He suddenly realised that while she knew all about his daughter's death and subsequent divorce from Meg he knew hardly anything about her past. Mared Rhys was tough and self sufficient. She didn't need him. He was just glad she seemed to want him.

"You ok?"

"Yeah." She looked out the car window as he pulled into the carpark behind the austere building. She sighed heavily, knowing that Tom hated the morgue as much as she did. It seemed they spent most of their lives visiting Iowerth and Rhodri, hoping to find a clue that would send them in the right direction.

"You ok?"

"Yeah." Mared nodded. "I'm ok."

He raised an eyebrow, knowing she was thinking about the scene in the office. He knew she would hate to be the centre of gossip. The police station was smaller than he had been used to in London. He knew the rest of station were close knit. That Siân and Lloyd were almost like brother and sister.

"Don't worry about Prosser." Tom spoke calmly. "He didn't see anything other than two colleagues who are close."

"Tom."

"I know you want things kept quiet but he's not a gossip. At least Siân didn't walk in." He watched as her lips curled into a smile. The rain splashing the windscreen catching her attention.

"Tom."

"I."

"Shut up."

"Mared." He paused as he saw her biting her lip, trying to hide the smile.

"It's ok. Honestly. He would be more embarrassed than us. Come on, Iowerth will be waiting for us." She opened the car door before leaving him to stare after her. Mared Rhys was certainly not the woman he had thought her to be. Now they were beginning to change their relationship he was starting to see another side of her. Shaking his head he left the car, jogging to keep up as she reached the mortuary entrance.

Xxxxx

"I hate this bit of the job." Lloyd sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets he trudged after Siân as the detective sergeant headed towards the second crime scene. The body had been removed but the park where she had been found still showed all the hallmarks of a tragedy waiting to be found. Yellow police tape flickered as the wind caught it; undergrowth appeared to have been flattened. Whether by the crime, the police or just find Lloyd couldn't tell.

"It's always a bloody dog walker that finds them." He shook his head; realising he was being ignored. Siân smiled slightly. She knew he meant well but his moaning reminded her of her grandad back in Camarthen. Lloyd Owen was old before his time.

"Lloyd?"

"Pam?"

"llaeth?"

"Milk? What about milk?"

"Don't tell me you forgot?" Siân crouched as he stared at her. The blonde detective kept her eyes in front of her; studying the scene where the body was found.

"I dunno what you are on about."

"Milk. You said you'd buy it. For work. I get the decent coffee and you get the milk. Lloyd?!" She rolled her eyes as he shrugged.

"Wallet back at the station. You'll have to cough up."

"No chance." She smiled before turning to head back towards the car. Lloyd pulled a face, wondering what she was up to this time.

Xxxxxxx

"Tortured." Mared pulled a face as Iowerth washed his hands in surgical scrub. The pathologist nodded. The sterility of the mortician lab making the concept of death and murder all the more real. Tom remained silent, nauseated at the thought of what the woman on the slab had gone through.

"Yes. Archaic really." The Rhondda man turned. "I'm telling you, she wasn't killed where she was found. Neither was she killed shortly after being taken. If the time of abduction is correct."

"It is." Tom stated as the Welshman who couldn't speak Welsh nodded.

"Then our young lady died a good 36 to 48 hours after she was taken. Bruising to face and neck suggest strangulation as do petechiae to the sclera of both eyes." Iowerth pulled latex gloves on before heading towards the slab. "Normal body habitus, one tattoo of a daisy and pierced ears. No other distinguishing marks."

"A daisy?" Tom asked.

"Bethan has a niece called Daisy. In the same year as Elin at high school." She folded her arms. Tom closed his eyes. She always brought them back to the moment; reminding them the corpse had been a living, breathing person with thoughts and feelings just as they did. He caught her eye, desperately wanting to hug her. Iorwerth nodded.

"Indeed." He paused. "She was beaten and tortured. This wound, here." He pointed to her left thigh. "Nasty little bugger. Meat tenderiser."

"Like a chef would use?" Tom stared at the criss cross marks. Iowerth nodded.

"Chef, butcher, anyone keen on cooking." He pulled the sheet back as Mared looked away. Something in her resonated with the victim but she didn't know what. Sighing, she avoided Tom's eyes as Iowerth continued his report. All she knew was they had to find the monster responsible before he struck again.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Mared frowned as she walked back to the car. She had investigated more murders than she could count but there was something about these murders that resonated with her. She knew Tom was as disgusted by the senseless violence as she was, but it was more than that.

"You ok?" Tom asked as she reached the car. She nodded, avoiding eye contact before getting into the driver's side of the car.

"Mared?"

"Those women." Mared tugged at the seatbelt as he started the engine. "They had their whole lives ahead of them. Bethan had a niece the same age as Elin. They were just normal. Nothing odd or different about them. Nothing that would mark them out as different."

"I know."

"It's just such a waste." She sighed as he started the engine. Tom remained silent, knowing there was nothing that he could say to make the situation better. Two women had died, the second because they hadn't found the killer after the first victim had been found. He blamed himself for that.

"Another victim and we'll have a serial killer in Aberystwyth." She sighed. "Here, in the middle of nowhere."

"It won't come to that. There has to be a connection. Some common link other than their age and gender. We'll find it." He drove towards the station, praying he was right.

Xxxxxxx

"Siân. Lloyd." Prosser walked into the office as Siân shrugged her coat off. The older man smirked. He hadn't wanted Siân Owen to join his team; her reputation almost as colourful as Mathias'. He saw her as a liability.

"Sir." Lloyd turned to him. "Uniform are still doing house to house." He watched as the older man nodded. He knew Mared and Tom had gone to the mortuary. He just wondered why the more junior detectives were back at the station so much earlier than them.

"I want to go through the records we have from the first case." Siân explained. Prosser nodded once before heading back out of the room. Lloyd headed towards his desk silently wondering why Siân had to antagonise the senior office. Siân huffed as she watched the older man go, knowing that she would never trust him.

Xxxxxxx

"Cmon." Tom parked the car in the bleak carpark behind the police station. "Sooner we get through this." He tried to cajole her as Mared glanced at him.

"Milk."

"Milk?" He raised an eyebrow, a half smile on his face. Mared bit her lip, knowing that it was rare to see him so relaxed. She knew that was down to her; their new relationship letting her to see another side to the morose, pedantic police officer.

"Llaeth. We don't have any in the station. You go in, I'll nip to the shop. If I'm going to go through those reports I need caffeine." She smiled as he raised his eyebrows.

"Ok." He paused. "Far be it for me to get between Mared Rhys and her caffeine." He smiled as she rolled her eyes. "Don't be long."

"Ok, ok." She got out the car, heading towards the exit from the car park as he watched her go.

Cccc


	4. Chapter 4

Missing?

Tom checked his phone as Siân and Lloyd discussed their last interview. It seemed the relatives of the first victim were too distressed to give many details. Tom sighed.

"Ble mae Mared?" Siân asked. Tom shrugged.

"Wedi mynd i gael llaeth."

"Ble mae hi wedi mynd i ei gael? Mae'r fuwch go iawn?"

"Siân." Lloyd rolled his eyes.

"Wel? Mae hi wedi bod oedran."

"Byddaf yn galw hi." Tom pulled out the mobile phone, hoping that Mared was just delayed. The sick feeling in his gut told him it was more than Mared just chatting to a friend or someone she knew. He hoped his inate sense of dread was just his natural paranoia kicking in. He pressed the speed dial for her name. Moments later the answer phone told him she couldn't answer right then.

"Mared, where are you? Hurry up, ok?" He ended the call.

"Driving?" Lloyd shrugged.

"No, she only went to Davies' on the corner." Tom frowned. Lloyd and Siân exchanged glances. Both knew he was more worried than he had let them believe.

Xxxx

"Diolch Danny." Mared took her change from the young shop worker. The corner shop was unusually quiet for the time of day. She put the change in her jeans pocket before heading out of the shop, silently cursing herself for leaving her red duffle coat in Tom's car she tugged her shirt a little closer totally unaware of the man in the shadows. Stepping into the street she jumped to avoid a puddle before being lifted off her feet. Struggling and kicking she knew immediately what was happening. The rag over her mouth made her gag, the stench making it difficult to breathe. She wasn't strong enough to fight off the man who unceremoniously threw her into the back of a van. The world around her turned black as the chloroform took hold.

Xxxxx

Tom didn't want to panic in front of the junior detectives. He glanced at his phone, deciding to text her. No answer. He turned sharply as the door to the office slammed open. About to berate Mared when he realised it wasn't her.

"Cerys." Siân turned to the desk Sargent.

"Sorry, I've just had Danny from the shop. Daniel Davies. Says Mared bought milk there an hour ago. He came out the shop to lock up, found her phone smashed on the road. Her bracelet too." Cerys held up a small transparent evidence bag.

"Elin bought her that." Tom frowned. His guts twisted in fear. "Get the CCTV for the street where the shop is. Until otherwise proved Mared Rhys is a missing person."

Siân and Lloyd paused.

"Now!" He snapped as Lloyd headed out of the office. Siân grabbed her jacket, knowing that there was no point in offering platitudes. Tom Mathias wasn't going to rest until Mared was back where she belonged.

Xxxxxxxx

Welsh translatiOn

"Gone to get milk."

"Where she gone to get it? The actual cow?"

"Siân."

"Well? She's been ages."

"I'll call her."

A/N please review


	5. Chapter 5

Judas kiss

Mared kept her eyes closed as she sensed a figure looking over her. She had no idea who it was but her gut instinct told her she was in trouble. Her mind worked against her, sending her mental images of the bodies she had seen, the post mortem reports she had received from Rhondri and Iowerth. She did her best to control her breathing as a finger traced her hairline, gently brushing her hair away from her face.

" "Mae'n rhaid iddo fod yn chi. Os gwelwch yn dda, peidiwch â chymryd hyn yn bersonol. 'I jyst yn yr hyn ydyw."

She remained silent, wondering why he had bothered speaking to her. The cold from the concrete floor permeated her bones as he felt her neck, checking for a pulse.

"Da iawn." He breathed in her ear as her stomach lurched. Gripping her throat tightly with one hand he pulled at her clothes with another. Mared felt the panic build in the pit of her stomach. A moment later she felt the sharp sting of metal against her bare skin before the world around her fading into darkness. Her only thoughts of Tom and Elin.

Xxxxxx

"Tom!" Prosser yelled as the younger man stormed away from him. "This will not do DI Rhys any good." Tom ignored the older man. He had no idea how Brian Prosser could be so calm. He'd seen the CCTV footage Lloyd had commandeered. He knew Mared was attacked, abducted and now there was a potential serial killer walking the streets of Aberystwyth.

"Tom!"

He kept walking. He didn't want to calm down. He had no intention of being calm; not until Mared was safe and well. Until then Prosser and his platitudes could take a running jump.

Xxxxxx

"Mared? Mared?" She felt sick as he loomed over her. Everything ached. She desperately wanted to wake up at home, to realise this nightmare was in her head. She wanted to hear her dad revving the car as her daughter and mum busied themselves getting ready for the day. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she thought of Tom, his lop sided smile that didn't quite reach his eye. Unless it was directed at her.

"Beautiful skin." He bit her neck as she gasped. Another punch to her gut set her reading. Biting her lip to stop from crying out she slumped on the dirty mattress glad that another voice had added to the mix. Softly spoken and decidedly Welsh she felt herself relax, knowing that rescue was imminent. Prosser wouldn't let anything more happen to her.

"Why?" She heard him ask. "Why are you so stupid? So bloody negligent!"

"You wanted this!"

"Dead and dumped I said."

"I do things my way, Bri. You know that! We had a deal." Evans snapped. "Hit him where it hurts! That's what you said! Hit him where it hurts!"

"Well now she's not dead you've given him a bloody crusade! He won't rest!" Prosser snapped. "Where is she?"

Mared couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had to be mistaken. There was no way Brian Prosser - her boss could have anything to do with this. He was her boss, she'd known him all her life. She wanted to cry, to scream at the unfairness of it all. Pretending to still be unconscious she let gloved hands grip her arms, her bruised, battered body slumping as she did her best not to show any reaction. He gripped her arms tightly, his gloved hands adding to the marks on her pale skin.

"I'm sorry." Prosser held her tightly, noticing the blood around her nose, the bruising over one eye. "You were such a pretty girl. I'm sorry." He kissed her hard on the mouth before dropping her on the cold concrete floor.

"Finish it." Prosser snapped as he walked away, leaving her to her fate.

Cxxxxxx

Elin looked up from the kitchen table as she heard her grandfather talking to Tom. She was worried sick as she thought of her mum. She'd argued with her the night before she'd vanished. Now she desperately wanted to see her.

"Elin?" She looked up to see Tom watching her. The teenager narrowed her eyes, the dark fringe fell into her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I just want my mam home."

"I do too." He watched as her eyes filled with tears. "We'll find her. I'll get her home. I promise."

Elin wiped her eyes.

"You love her, don't you?" Elin watched as he nodded once. "Tom?"

"I do."

"Just bring her home." The teenager got up, hugging him. "Get her home."

"I will. I promise."

Xxxxx

Welsh translation

"It just had to be you. Please, don't take this personally. It just is what it is."


	6. Chapter 6

Promise

Tom sighed heavily as the young girl nodded. Elin Rhys was a carbon copy of her mother. He could see why Mared worried about her so much.

"I heard you and Bampi talking."

"Oh?" Tom paused. He had no idea what the teenager had overheard.

"Mam always wanted to be a police officer. Since before I was born. She was too young having me."

"Who says?"

"Tom. She was fifteen."

"Ok, a little young." Tom smiled slightly. Elin shook her head.

"She never had a boyfriend. The lad that got her pregnant with me put her off for life. She's only ever been with him. As far as I know. And you bugged her like mad when you first came here."

"I know." He smirked.

"Bloody Mathias!" Elin smirked. "She always had a moan. But then."

"I did try to wind her up. A bit." He watched as her eyebrows shot up. "I'll do my best to find her."

"I know," Elin paused. "How long?"

"Sorry?"

"Have you loved her?"

"I dunno. A while."

"Does she know?"

"Yes. Well, I think she believed me." He blushed, looking away. Elin wiped a tear away.

"Just bring her home. Yeah? You can tell her again, yeah. Make sure she knows."

Tom nodded before hugging the teenager.

"I will." He glanced up to see Mared's mother watching them. "I will."

Xxxxxx

Lloyd cursed under his breath as he stared at the board. Photos of the killer's previous victims along with detailed reports of the women's autopsy reports stared back at him.

"Any luck? Farm boy?"

"Bugger off Siân."

"Lloyd?" She crossed the room towards the junior detective. "What's wrong?"

"Three victims. That makes a serial killer? That's what people say."

"Mared isn't dead."

"How do you know? The first victim. Post mortem says she died less than six hours following abduction. The second twenty four hours."

"We are looking at this wrong." Siân glared at the board, blonde hair falling in her face as she ignored it. "We've been looking at their similarities. We should be looking at their differences. The only thing these women had in common? What are they?"

"Female, local girls, born in Aberystwyth."

Lloyd paced the room.

"And?"

"Great jobs. Professional. Educated. Single."

"And how is Mared different? What's different about them?"

"I don't get you?" Lloyd paused.

"I'm not sure I do. But we've missed something. Mared told me once. Look at what you can't see. I dunno. Maybe they were random opportunistic killings. Maybe they met their murderer before."

"Like a teacher? Both in higher education?"

"No." Siân slumped at her desk. "More than that. A shopkeeper? Workman? Anything like that?"

"Mared is vegetarian. Has been since we had that job at the meat factory." Siân nodded. "So, that sets her apart from the other two."

"Siân." Lloyd frowned, taking his glasses off. "You are bloody marvellous."

"I know." Siân rolled her eyes as he grabbed his jacket. "Cmon. I have a hunch."

"Lloyd and his hunches." She rolled her eyes once more before following him out of the office.

Xxxxxzz

The lifeless body lay on the concrete as he approached her. Dark hair fell onto the concrete as he realised it was matted in blood. The last attack had been too much. He shook his head. Not his fault , Prosser had been the last one to touch her. Sighing he knelt down to feel for a pulse.

"May God rest you and keep you." He mumbled as he rolled her onto her back. Mared was heavier than he remembered, but then she literally was a dead weight. He felt for her pulse. Smiling slightly when he found one.

"Stronger than you look." He pulled on her clothes, ripping the blouse she had bought days before. Her skin exposed to him he smiled. Now it was his turn.

Xxx


	7. Chapter 7

Always

Lloyd took his glasses off, wiped them on his shirt before putting them straight back on. Siân raised an eyebrow; knowing it was a definite sign that her friend was agitated.

"How long since we last had a positive sighting of Mared?" He turned to her. Siân narrowed her eyes.

"You know this - we're into day three. He's killed both previous victims before now."

"She's not dead."

"Lloyd."

"Both of the other women had been found by now. Neither women were missing this long before their bodies were found." Lloyd stared across the street. "Cmon," He left the small car, jogging across the street to the small dress shop opposite the butchers shop. Siân cursed under her breath before following him.

Xxxxxx

Tom glared at the screen in front of him. The CCTV footage of the abduction imprinted on his mind for the rest of his life. A reminder of someone else he had loved but had let down.

"Sir?"

"Anwen." He looked up to see the young woman watching him.

"DS Owen called. Asked that you ring her immediately." The new recruit nodded towards his mobile.

"Battery dead. Diolch Anwen."

She smiled slightly before heading out of the CID office. He grabbed the now charged phone .

"Siân? What is it?" He closed his eyes listening for a moment. "And you and Lloyd are sure?"

"Yes." Siân stood on the corner of the street as she glared at the butcher's van. "We are."

"Do you believe life is in immediate and tangible danger?" He was already heading out the door.

"I do."

"The DS Owen you do not need a warrant to enter the van nor the premises. I'm on my way."

"Yes Sir." Siân ended the call. The crow bar she had acquired in one hand as she shoved her phone in her jacket pocket. She knew she should wait for Lloyd but if he was right there was no time. Seconds later she had forced the back door of the transit van from its hinges.

"Dear God."

Xxxxxxx

Mared lay on the cold floor, her hands tied. The blouse she had chosen now torn to shreds as what wasn't ripped was blood soaked. She blinked, knowing she had lost too much blood. Shock would set in, if hypothermia didn't kill her. She gasped as she felt the man's breath on her neck. He seemed intent on his task. His hands working on the button of her jeans. Anger flared in the pit of her stomach as she felt his hands on her skin.

"Get off me."

"Now you know that's not going to happen." He smirked. Mared raised one eyebrow as he smirked, with a strength she didn't know she had her right knee shot up, catching him in the groin. The yell of pain and surprise caused him to back away from her. Mared rolled onto her front, adrenaline coursing through what was left of her blood.

"I said, get off me." She kicked him again but he grabbed her ankle, pulling her over. She screamed, as loud as she could as she once more kicked out at him.

Xxxxxxx

"No time." Lloyd yelled as he ran through the butchers shop. Siân radioed for back up as she followed him. The click of her heels on the cold tile floor alerting anyone around that she was heading for them. Neither of them heard the breaks or sirens of police cars outside. Tom was barrelling past them in seconds.

"Sir!" Lloyd yelled.

"Where is she!"

"I was sure." Siân frowned. "Once I saw the van."

A scream pierced the air as Lloyd took off again, barrelling towards the steps down to the meat store in the basement of the shop. Tom and Siân hot on his heels as Siân almost fell the last few steps. Both men barrelled into the solid metal door. Lloyd stepped back, kicking it as Siân raised an eyebrow.

"Make things easier for us eh!" She snapped. "For once." She carefully pulled the door towards them. "Pull cariad." She watched Tom smirk slightly before following Lloyd through the door. A second later Lloyd had rugby tackled the broad set man to the floor, pining him down with his knee as Siân read him the arrest rights. Tom stepped away from them. The still body of Mared holding his attention.

"Tom?"

"Get that out of here and get the paramedics. I'll stay with her." His voice was low. Siân nodded, helping Lloyd manhandle the man they now knew as Evans out of the building. "Mared?" Tom touched her arm. She flinched.

"Mared?"

She began struggling as he lifted her in to his arms.

"No!"

"It's me. It's Tom. Your Tom." His heart broke as she blinked, finally realising who it was.

"Tom." She clung to him as he held her.

"Yeah. It's ok. It's over."

"My Tom." She sobbed, barely believing it was him. He held her tightly, kissing her hair.

"Always." He rocked her slightly. "Always yours."

Xxxxxx


End file.
